Iron Man:
by Arc Reaction
Summary: Tony Stark has to face new problems when he returns from Afghanistan. He has to break the news to Pepper and the world about "Iron Man". Director Fury warns him about a new world-wide threat. Tony will have to team up with a range of "superheroes" in order to help save the world. Will they succeed?
1. Secrets

A Fan Fiction to The Series "Iron Man"

By: Arc Reaction

.Iron Man.

Tony Stark sat at his desk, the usual Monday morning. He looked around his office. The giant wooden doors, the sculpture of his dad's creation of a new element, and other important things scattered around the room. Pepper called the scattered objects "useless" and Tony hated that word. He all knew that they all could be used for something. Nothing to Tony is considered useless, unless he thinks it is. He was looking at the computer when a file popped up on his screen. It said:

To: Mr. Anthony Stark

From: Government

Reason/Purpose: Iron Man Suits

"This is going to be great..." He muttered and opened the file.

It was the same subject every time. The government wanted the suits and Tony wouldn't give them up. It always stated that they thought Tony Stark was not able to control the whole world's safety by himself. But that was not true. Tony always had Rhodey to back him up. Tony had made a special suit for him, in case he got in a bad situation and Rhodey needed to help. Rhodey, more known as Rhodes, named this suit War Machine. He wanted it to sound bad-ass. Tony attached big guns to the shoulders, and made it more durable. Tony's new suit the Mark VII was perfect. It could withstand a lot of pressure, and he upgraded the ammunition. It would take a lot more than some bomb to wreck this suit.

Tony was in the middle of thinking when Pepper Potts, his personal assistant, walked into his office. She was in a tight black dress, with 6 inch heels on. He tried not to stare as he walked up to his wooden desk.

"Mr. Stark." She said waltzing up.

"Yes?" He picked his papers up from his desk and started to make a pile of them trying not to look at her.

"S.H.E.I.L.D and Director Fury wish to speak with you." She told him in a business sounding voice.

"Damn." He swore. "Give me ten minutes." He shouted as he ran out of the office and to his Porsche. He glanced at his license plate and smiled. It said Stark5. He had named all of his cars with his last name. He made each one of the cars, or at least changed something on it to make it Stark worthy. He got in and started it up and drove away.

Back in the office, Pepper walked up to Tony's computer and looked at the file he didn't close out of. She had no idea what this "Iron Man" thing was. She thought that it was just a missile he was creating and he liked that name. She took no notice of it and closed out of the file and shut down his computer. Her phone blackberry rang in her pocket, so she took it out and pressed it to her ear.

"Hello?" The voice on the other line said.

"Director Fury? Is that you?" Pepper asked the man.

"The one and only." Fury let out a small manly chuckle.

"Tony said he will meet with you in ten minutes. Personally I don't know what he is doing." Pepper said trying to think of what he was up too.

"Alright. Tell him to meet me at the Stark Expo in ten." He said and hung up.

"Thanks…" She muttered even though Fury had hung up.

Tony was speeding to get home to his penthouse. He needed to change the palladium in his arc reactor, and fast.

"Damn thing." He coughed as he sped up.

He finally reached the house and he limped to his desk. He ripped the drawer open and found the little wooden box he was looking for. He carefully took out a piece of palladium as he took off his shirt. His muscles ripped as he moved around. He took one hand and with a lot of skill, took out his arc reactor. It lit up a little brighter and opened up to reveal a burning piece of old palladium. He took the old out and threw it in the garbage can on the side of his metal desk. He tried to keep his breath steady as he stuck in the new piece of palladium, and went to stick the arc reactor back into its socket. Right as he was going to stick it in, Pepper walked to the door. He panicked and threw the arc reactor into the drawer. He threw on his shirt before he unlocked the door for Pepper to walk in.

"What's was that?" She asked walking up to him sounding a little mad.

"What was what?" He tried to avoid the arc reactor she didn't know about.

"Why did you have your shirt off?" She asked looking at his messy desk. She glanced at the box of palladium and picked it up.

"What is this?" She asked pulling a piece out.

"Nothing!" He shouted and pulled the box away from her and shoved it into a drawer. He was trying to keep his breath steady, but he could feel the shrapnel from that bomb three months ago, moving around.

"Well, hurry up. Fury is mad. He wanted to meet you at Stark Expo, but you have been taking too long. He came here. He is upstairs. Hurry up." She glared at him and then turned and walked out of his workshop. He let out a gasp and reached for his arc reactor. He grabbed it and stuck it into the socket it belonged in. He took a sharp intake of breath and he thought it never tasted so good in his life. He got up and walked into the middle of his workshop.

"J.A.R.V.I.S! Get the suit ready just in case, I need to leave." He said and walked out of his workshop. Fury was standing by the stairs top. He had a mean glare and Tony walked up the stairs avoiding his stare. He sat on the sofa, covered up with a blanket, and grabbed a piece of pizza he left there earlier.

"Mr. Stark." Fury said sitting on the chair somewhat close to Tony.

"What is it now, Fury?" Tony asked in between mouthfuls of pizza.

Fury glanced at Pepper, somewhat it seemed he want her to leave. She dipped her head showing respect, and waltzed out of the living room.

"We have an important subject to talk about, Tony." Fury said and Tony noticed he used his nickname.

"Is it about the arc reactor? It is working just fine." Tony said as he glanced at where the reactor was on his chest.

"I wish it was that simple." Fury sighed and tightened his hands into fists.

"What is it then?" Tony asked completely and utterly confused.

"We need your help…" Fury glared at him.

Tony glanced at Fury.

"My, help?" He chuckled and then got serious.

"We have a worldwide problem." Fury said looking directly into Tony's deep brown eyes.

"What is it, doc?" He joked around. Fury slapped Tony hard on the shoulder.

"Thanos, a world-wide threat is back in America." At that moment Tony's world stopped. Tony gasped and thought of Pepper. What would she think? She didn't even know about Iron Man! This would break her heart.

"Why only my help. Why not some stronger and older superhero?" Tony struggled to get the words out of his mouth.

"No. We can't just stumble upon some giant and wise superhero every day, Tony." Fury said quietly hoping Pepper didn't hear.

"Then who is on our side?"He asked Fury.

"The Avengers." He looked Tony in the eye.

"The Avengers? Tony asked completely confused.

"Meet us at the Stark Expo, tomorrow morning." He said to Tony, He held out his hand and Tony shook it goodbye. Fury walked out of the room and Pepper walked in. Tony covered himself up with a blanket, to hide the arc reactor and its glow from Pepper's watchful eyes.

"What was all that about?" Pepper asked Tony suspiciously.

"Stuff." He said. "Pepper I have to show you something, promise you won't flip out?"

She eyed him and then said, "Alright. I promise."

He took off the blanket and then looked at Pepper. Pepper gasped as she saw the arc reactor.

"What do you think?" Tony chuckled.

"What the hell is that?" Pepper shouted.

"A miniaturized arc reactor. The palladium inside it is keeping shrapnel from reaching my important organs." He said knowing what he was talking about.

"Shouldn't we take you to a doctor?" Pepper asked worried.

"No they can't remove anymore then I can." He said and he poked around at his arc reactor, making little "dink" noises.

"That is the thing keeping you alive..?" She looked at the arc reactor as its dim blue light reached her eyes. Tony pulled out a small remote and dimmed the lights, until the only light they saw, was emanating from his reactor. It was ten o'clock at night and Pepper was really sleepy. She let out a yawn and passed out of Tony's chest. He let out an "oomph" when she landed on him. He smiled and rubbed her head and laid on the couch his arms wrapped protectively around her. He covered them both up and he closed his eyes, falling asleep. The only noise in the whole house was the silent hum of Tony Stark's arc reactor.


	2. The Truth

An Iron Man Fan Fiction

By: Arc Reaction

.Iron Man.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter Two~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pepper woke up with a gasp noticing she was lying on Tony's chest. She let out a small smile. Although, she was sad he didn't know she had a huge crush on him. She laid there on Tony's warm chest, falling and rising with his deep breaths. She matched her breathing with his trying not to wake him up. She had been waiting for a moment like this. She still was a little mad though. She didn't understand why Tony had kept this huge secret hidden from her. She guessed he had had his reasons why. Tony always had a reason for what he did. Tony peeked at Pepper through a slit eye. He let out a small chuckle. He had noticed finally how she cared for him. He never noticed it before now. He kind of liked the feeling that someone liked him, for him. Not for the Tony Stark that was rich and famous playboy. He saw her breathing had changed and he knew she was awake.

"Good morning, Ms. Potts." He chuckled groggily from just waking up.

She gasped and sat up in a second. She knew it probably made him uncomfortable, for her to be lying on his chest.

"Good morning, Mr. Stark." She said blushing a little.

"What's wrong Pepper? Why did you get up?" He said and then his sparkle in his eyes died down. She stared at him. She loved that glimmer in his eyes. That was what made him Tony Stark.

"Nothing's wrong at all. But I am the one who should be asking you what's wrong." She said and put a hand on his leg.

"Nothing is. I wanted o stay like that. It made me happy, but are you mad about the arc reactor?" He said looking up to her with his puppy dog eyes.

She let out a long sigh.

"I am not happy you lied to me, but I am glad you're alright, Tony." She said using his first name. She didn't often use his first name. She usually called him Mr. Stark.

He sat up so he was inches from her face. He let out a small grin.

"So, now I told you what was troubling me, so now you get to share?" He smirked as she pushed his chest gently so he fell back onto the arm of the sofa.

She glanced at his dark brown eyes.

"I want to know something, but you have to be completely honest with me." She said with a hint of worry in her voice.

"Er, I'm not so sure I can do that…" He said trailing off.

"Why? What can't you tell me Tony?" She asked her voice rising up a little.

He let out a small wince as she started to get mad. He didn't like mad Pepper. She scared him more than the super villains he fought in the suit.

"Fine, but you asked for it." He said as he got up from the couch, still shirtless. Pepper looked at him admiring his body. He is in serious shape. She blushed a little as he stuck out his hand to help her up. She took it and he pulled her up with little effort. He let out a long sigh and started to walk down the stairs. As he reached the bottom, he walked to the doorway. He punched in his code to open the door. He glanced at her blue eyes, as she looked around. She had been down here multiple times, but this time she knew she would figure something out. He started to walk to his desk, and for the first time she noticed he was limped slightly. She ran up and put her hand on his shoulder to stop him. He turned around to look at her.

"Why are you limping, Tony?" She asked looking worried.

He coughed a couple of times.

"I need to get to my desk." He wheezed.

She helped him to his desk and he opened the first middle drawer. He pulled out the little box she had placed her hands on yesterday. It was little and wooden with a ton of carvings on its cover. She wondered what it was and remembered the odd metal things in it. He opened it and pulled out a piece of the metal.

"This is palladium. I need it to run the arc reactor." He said popping out his arc reactor. Pepper let out a small gasp. She didn't know if she could do anything to help. The second he pulled it out its glow got a little brighter then died down. It made a little squeak and it opened up to reveal an old piece of fried palladium. He gestured of Pepper to take it out and she grabbed it gently. It was hot and she threw it into the garbage can next to the metal desk. He pulled a new piece of palladium from the box and put it into the arc reactor's core. She let out a small gasp as it closed, eloping the palladium. He coughed and tucked it back into his chest. He only had limited time to get it in and out otherwise the shrapnel would start to move. It let out a small pulsing like light and then went back to normal. He smiled and looked up at Pepper. Her eyes were wide with worry, and also compassion from the man who was smart enough to build such a creation.

"Ta Da." He said laughing.

"Wow. I can't believe that thing works." Pepper looked at the arc reactor and leaned forward so she was at least ten inches away from the reactor. Tony looked at her and she was three inches from his face. He thought it was now or never. He smiled and leaned forward and her lips met his. Pepper's eyes were wide with astonishment. She didn't expect that at all! She kissed him back and they sat in Tony's desk chair kissing. After what seemed like a only a few seconds, Pepper pulled away blushing a lot. Tony laughed and hugged her.

"I am so sorry. I didn't even pay any attention to the person who loved me the most." Tony said hugging Pepper tightly.

"It's alright. I guess I have waiting for something like this to happen for a while now." She blushed still hugging Tony.

"I still have something to show you." Tony said the glimmer in his eyes fading away, as if he had gotten hurt.

"Alright." Pepper said as she pulled out of Tony's tight grasp.

He got up out of his chair and pulled a remote out of his pocket.

"J.A.R.V.I.S. are you there?" He asked into the cool air of the workshop.

"I am online and ready for you always, Sir." J.A.R.V.I.S said in his robotic British voice.

Pepper knew about J.A.R.V.I.S and how he worked the whole house.

"Get the suit out." He said pushing a button on the remote making a platform on the ground move. He walked up so he was standing on the moving platform. It spun slowly but surely in circles. He stood in the middle and boots came out of the floor and eloped his feet. Next robotic arms came out of the floor and started to build, what looked like a suit, around Tony Stark. She stared in complete awe. He watched her and let out a small chuckle. After all the parts of the suit were attached to Tony, one last arm came out of the floor and held a red and golden metal helmet. He grasped it and walked up to Pepper. The "suit" made little squeaking noises as he walked to Pepper. Now he was at least a couple inches taller then he usually was. He looked at her and let out a small grin.

"What do you think?" Tony smiled and looked at Pepper.

"I thought you said you were not going to make weapons anymore." She said walking around Tony, looking at the suit. She was worried about what this thing did.

"Technically I am not, because I said I wasn't creating this for the whole world to use. This is something that stays with me. Plus, Rhodey has one only if I need him to help me or save my life." He said watching Pepper as she waltzed around him.

"What do you plan to use this "Suit" for?" Pepper asked him still confused on how it wasn't a weapon.

"Well. Let's just say I am following Fury's orders to maintain and help the people of this country. I am a superhero." He said with a smirk. He liked the idea of being more popular.

"You being a superhero?" She laughed looked at him.

"What? I would make a good superhero!" He said acting like a child.

"Haha, you wish Tony!" She laughed running away as he reached out to hug her.

"Come back here!" He shouted staying where he was. Pepper went and ran and hid under his desk. He let out a small chuckle and shot up in the air, hovering. Pepper looked around for him, but then suddenly out of the air he landed right in front of her and grabbed her. He hugged her but not too hard.

"Hey!" She shouted and wiggled around in his tight grasp.

"Hey what? You asked for it!" He said setting her down on the ground gently.

"What am I going to do with you, Tony?" Pepper asked him with a small smirk on her lips.

"Whatever you want to do, but you can't get rid of me." He laughed.

"Alright." Pepper said agreeing with him.

"Well, I have some business to attend to." Tony said as he put on his helmet.

"Be careful!"She shouted.

"I will. J.A.R.V.I.S make sure Pepper is safe here." He shouted at the A.I.

"Of course, Sir." J.A.R.V.I.S said.

"Good." Tony said as the rocket blasters started up in his feet. He glanced at Pepper and leaned forward propelling him through the driveway into the night.

Pepper stood and watched as the love of her life flew away. She only just figured out that he had these suits, but she was so worried for him. He was so reckless. He would give his life for someone else's. Maybe that was a common trait in super heroes. She let out a long sigh knowing she would be alone for a while. Tony had some business to do and she did as well. She pulled out her blackberry and called Director Fury.

"Hello?" Fury said on the other line.

"Fury we need to talk." Pepper answered in a stern tone.

"What is it about now Pepper?" He questioned her.

"It is about Tony. What are you making him do in that ridiculous suit?" She asked him getting pretty mad.

"He is a superhero Pepper. I wasn't the one who made him build the suit. He created it because he was the one who witnessed people getting killed with the very weapons he created to protect them. He wanted to be able to create something that would help them and not hurt them." Fury took a second and sucked in some air. "It would be bad if the government would get their grubby hands on the suits. They would use them for military and the whole world would be in grave danger."

"What can I do to help?" Pepper asked quietly sighing.

"Deal with the government problems while Tony helps people who need it."

"What do they call Tony?" She asked him.

"He is known as Iron Man." Fury said with a chuckle.

"Alright. I will do everything I can to help with these matters. Give me a call if you need anything Director Fury." Pepper said as she hung up.

Pepper exited the workshop and briskly walked up the stairs. She walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch. She had no idea what she could do for Tony, other than mess with the government. They could not, and would not get their hands on the suits.


End file.
